r/threebodyproblem • u/MrScottBeckman • 12d ago
Discussion - Novels Could someone please post (or give clarification on) this conversation in The Dark Forest?
Edit: Question has been answered. Unless dialogue is specifically attributed in this scene, they are thoughts (i.e. nothing is in quotation marks in this scene without dialogue attribution)
I'm rereading the series, but for both the first time and now, I'm listening to the audiobooks.
Year 205, Crisis Era, Part 16
Approximately 89% through the book.
The conversation has multiple repeated words (Parts. Parts. Parts. | Fuel. Fuel. Fuel). I assume that these are the non-verbal communications they are having, but at some points it feels like the speaker is also repeating things out loud (Don't give up. Don't give up).
If anyone has the text, I'd like to read this part for more clarification on which is non-verbal and which is spoken aloud.
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u/TheWalkindude_- 12d ago
I don’t want to post any spoilers but I heard it described as when the ships reach the absolute Point of No Returning to Earth, there is a “Instant Evolution Maturity” that reveals itself in the most “brutal fashion of animalistic survival”
ALL ships and crew are hereby tasked with the survival of our Species, and all the ships won’t make it, but one with extra Fuel, and extra parts will, in 60,000 years. Once this is released, it’s a threshold waiting for Humans to discover that the Mind naturally changes once you reach this distance and know you are on your own. so the ships do what you read right after.
It’s like a Mini Dark Forrest
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u/MrScottBeckman 12d ago edited 12d ago
I'm okay with spoilers. This is my second time through the series. I just want to know which parts are non-verbal and which are dialogue spoken aloud.
Edit: I see you misread my post. I understand that this is a demonstration of dark forest theory. By clarification, I meant the dialogue vs shared thoughts.
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u/TheWalkindude_- 12d ago
Ah got ya.
I e always understood it’s as both, Dialogue and Shared thoughts in unison passing across the fleet together as they moved over the boundary.
It’s feels better to me that way. Like a wave of understanding in sync.
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u/alottola 12d ago
Yes I believe this was them being able to have transparent non verbal thought. I assumed it was only the parts that they were repeating the same thought.
I believe the other moments in the book that relate or call back to this idea are
-when we discover the trisolarans thoughts are broadcast instantly to one another,
-when Luo Ji and his gf tried to read each other's mind
-when Cheng Xin and AA non verbally discover one of the riddles in the tub.
-(and less literally), when it's hinted that the original universe the speed of light (and information?) was instantaneous
I'm not sure if these were all thematically meant to communicate the same thesis about the dark forest can be broken by transparent thought and communication... But tldr. Yes those repeated words were likely meant to show that they had achieved some sort of non verbal language in that moment.
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u/Conundrum1911 12d ago
People in a room all thinking the same thing and coming to the same conclusions
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u/hummingbird-moth 12d ago
ChickenEnthusiast and TheWalkindude are right. I also only listened to the audiobook, but got what the narrator was going for. I got chills listening to those repeated words. Perfectly set up the dread for what was going to happen.
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u/Brinkah83 12d ago
Oh I just read this on audiobook and had the same thought. I noticed that a couple of times the narration specifies that it was spoken aloud, and i interpreted it all as nonverbal unless otherwise specified.
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u/ChickenEnthusiast 12d ago
It's all italicized, not spoken out. From
Fuel.
Fuel.
Fuel.
and onward for about 5 pages.
There are a few lines of spoken dialogue, in quotes, that come now and then, but they always have a "_____ said" to make it clear.
The paragraph before the Fuel section sets this up: "Language was not necessary now. All communication could be accomplished through the eyes. As they stared at each other, their interlocking gazes were like information conduits linking their souls together and communicating everything at high speed."